Christ in China

If you are interested in Christianity in China, then you will want to read this report concerning a survey of Christianity recently completed in China.  I would offer a couple of caveats to this report, however.  They do not make much of the unregistered house churches.  House churches are mentioned at the end of the article, but the survey does not make clear how house churches were counted.  The real fire and real growth in China has come through the house church movement (even though the Three Self churches have grown, too).

Another thing I noticed from this report is that the survey tends to contradict itself.  In one place, there is growth among the young intellectuals, while in another place there seems to be statement that only the poor and ignorant are becoming Christian. (I suspect the former statement is true, while the latter is a Communist talking point, although the poor and ignorant surely have come to Christ, too.  Indeed, from God’s perspective we are all poor and ignorant).

Finally, I notice that Roman Catholics are counted separately, too.  This means that there are a lot of Christians in China.  When the house church, TS church, and Roman Catholic populations are added together, the Christian population in China exceeds the population of those registered in the Communist party.  Thus, the future of China is more Christian than Communist.  We can be thankful for that.